Defining Perseveration

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It seems like this is a rather vague term to me. It can be applied to so many different things... Seems to be some kind of momentum that causes you to 'stick' on doing the same thing. But it happens in so many different ways...

Example 1: I'm doing a calculus problem that happens to include an infinity symbol as one of the limits of integration. I copy the problem down; but for some reason I get stuck on the infinity symbol, and before I stop myself I've filled two lines of the paper with infinity symbols. Happens occasionally.

Example 2: I'm playing a computer game that I'm interested in. I need to get to bed at 11 p.m., but the next time I look at the clock, it's 7 a.m. and I have no idea where the time went. I vaguely remember thinking with half my mind, "I should stop doing this," but unable to figure out how to stop, and not really devoting much of my mind to any such figuring.

Example 3: Stimming, the same way, repetitively, for hours. Generally forget that I'm doing it at all. It seems to help me to think.

Example 4: Perfectionism--not just "this has to be right, or I'm going to be anxious", but taking ten times as long on something because you are doing it in such minute detail. For some reason, you can't seem to adjust the level of detail, nor stop until it's finished.

See what I mean? It's like there's just this common feeling of "momentum"--"I can't stop doing this" (though 'can't' is probably not literally true; more like, "it would take a lot of effort", possibly combined with it completely escaping you that you could try to stop at all). But it can be an annoyance, like writing repeated infinity symbols; or it can be enjoyable, like getting "trapped" doing a computer game, or just neutral, like the way you tend to keep stimming once you start.

Is all this defined as 'perseveration'? How much of this tendency do NTs feel? What's the cause? Can you use it to get "stuck" on what you want to get stuck on? I know I've finished term papers in a single sitting this way--and done them perfectly--but the tendency to take forever when it happens can be a hindrance.

It's our hyper-focus.

Yeah, i agree. Hyperfocus can be my best friend, or my enemy. Just depends on what I'm hyper focusing on. The same with my son. If he's perseverating on how something didn't go right, and now his world has melted... it's not so good. If he's built an entire scene using blocks, legos, and props from Thomas The Tank Engine in his room that took 2 hours, that's good.

I just wish I could get some kind of self control. For example, if I come across an offhand subject that interests me I have to know all about it. Wikipedia is not enough. I have to read 10 google pages, search for forums to browse, and look through youtube for info. Sometimes this is a good thing, but it isn't when the knowledge I'm gaining is trivial in reference to real life, and I could've used all those hours for something else.